Quiet times

The last few days have been quiet for me. Weather wise it has been very warm for the time of year. Over in the Eastern States of America, they have had snow. Not a few inches that we generally get but lots. I feel for all of those who have no electricity. This was caused in general by the weight of snow, which I think was the wet type, settling on the leaves of trees. The leaves had not fallen off the trees so the weight snapped many branches. This in turn pulled power lines down. I wonder if after all this. they will now bury power cables underground. Here in this country they have considered it but they say the cost would be too high. Does this make sense when a million or more people in the USA have been without electricity?. How much disruption was caused to industry also?
Now I have given it lots of thought recently and my mate who generally calls every 2 weeks or so has gone into the solar power installations into great detail. So much so, that I have today contacted a firm with the prospect of me having solar electricity.
On Wednesdat a man is coming to do a survey and subject to my home being suitable and of course the cost of installing solar power. I will make a decision as to whether I will proceed further or not. I will, of course keep all informed. More soon.

T.V in the early 50s

Now I will say a little about the early days of T.V.
As my Mother was disabled, my Father did everything to make her life easier. As he was a normal working class man it was hard for him to purchase a television. I think iot cost 99gns. That is £99 plus 99shillings. 5p.in todays money. A guinea was 31. and 1 shilling. This was about 10 weeks wages for him. I have mentioned it before but there would be some 200 or more houses on the Estate where we lived. When my Father bought the T.V there were only about 6 others on the whole of the Estate that had a Television. He bought it specially for the Coronation of the present Queen in 1952.
The televised live Coronation had been planned for months. To be candid, it was because of this, that the signals were upgraded so that the vast majority of the country could at last receive pictures.
What most people don't realise is that programmes were very limited. Programmes did not start until somewhere around 5.00pm. It was called Newsreel. The announcer would talk about the days news and after that, there would be pictures of yesterdays news.
Outside broadcasts were infrequent and regularly would break down. often there would be a picture blackout. The announcer would then say that there would be a short interlude while the fault was rectified. not for the first time, after an hour of watching a cat playing with a ball of woo, horses ploughing a field, watching a stream. You get the idea. The announce who would not be seen would apologise and say that the BBC was closing down for the night. Anyway, the evening nearly always ended at about 10.45pm.
The first television sets had no other channels. just a switch that turned the set on and off.
I can't remember exactly when Independent Television first started. (ITV) but it would be around 1955. Something seems to tell me that you needed another Ariel to pick up ITV. However this revelation started people to purchase T.Vs and in next to no time, they were in abundance and the majority had a Television.
As for us, we could not get ITV at all. My Father could not afford another T.V just to look at ITV. To be honest though, it made a huge difference to me and my attitude to advertisements. I detest them and if at all possible, will NOT watch anything that has commercial breaks .
What I tend to do with Sky, which is full of adverts. I try to record them and fast forward the programmes when a commercial break comes along.
It would be about 1960 when I was sitting in the Drivers and Fireman's rest room. One Driver was saying to another that he had been watching cricket on BBC2. The other Driver didn't believe him as BBC2 had not started broadcasting . He was then told that it was test transmissions and if he tuned his set, then he could watch BBC2.
I went home and immediately started to experiment. To my delight I managed to get BBC2. Sunday cricket was transmitted every Sunday during the Cricket Season. The team was called International Cavaliers. They played, I think every 1st Class County at their home ground as the Cavaliers had nothing. They were ex test Match players. Not all of course but most. They had a good team. 40 overs each side. Played on a Sunday afternoon between 2.00pm and 7.00pm.
This was really the start of something different to the County Championships which were played every week and they started on a Saturday, Monday and Tuesday. then Wednesday to Friday so you can see there was very little time off.
In those days, most cricketers either signed on the dole in the winter of had a winter job. The odd player went to play professional football. More soon.

Busy and annoyed

Yesterday I had one of those days.
First of all, I went online to order some bird seed. As you know, I have poor eyesight. To be honest it is beginning to concern me. I use a jewellers magnifying glass to see things.
Anyway, I went and ordered this bird seed, unfortunately, I typed in my expiry date 1 year sooner than it was. To my horror, the debit card was blocked. It stated that I must contact my Bank and get it unblocked.
Anyway, I rung the Bank up. That's right, you are in a queue. It took almost 25 minutes before I was answered. When I explained what had happened, the operator was surprised. I went back to the site and read what it had printed out to me. Her explanation was not what I had expected. She told me that I might have to go to a cash machine and unblock the card myself.
I was furious, I told her that in no uncertain circumstances would I be going several miles to a cash machine, incidentally I have never used a cash machine in my life. I informed her that I would guarantee that as night follows day, if the card was not unblocked I would immediately close my account with the Bank.
With this, she told me to try again in about 2 hours.
Well this morning I went online. I forgot to tell you, the site wrote to me asking me if anything was wrong as I had been online and had not proceeded with my purchase. I wrote and explained to them.
Well, as I say, I went back to the site. Once again put all details in and this time it went through up to the point of asking me for a password.
I was astounded as I have never been asked this before and as far as I know did not have one. I put in my security number, but nothing. I then tried 2 other words that I thought would be a password. Correct, the third time, once again the debit card was blocked.
I did nothing more that get typing a letter to the Bank informing them that with immediate effect, I am closing my account and was enclosing my debit card which I had destroyed. I cut this up into several pieces.
I then rung this Company up and explained what had happened. I asked if I could send a cheque and then they could send me the goods. This was readily accepted, so tonight I am sending a cheque. I know this will take a few days but at least I will eventually get the goods. By the way, the total was for less than £40 in total.
I then rung my own Bank main office. I explained that I wanted a debit card but my Branch told me that it had to be activated by going to a cash machine. The lady there informed me that I had a debit card that was ready to use as it had been activated. I told her that it was ages ago that I was sent one, it was the Branch Manager who told me I had to go to a cash machine to activate this. She informed me that this was in 2009.
Well, this sounds as if I have a replacement debit card. God only knows if I have a password. If this is so, then it will be of no use to me at all.. More soon.

Many restrictions

People will forget just how many restrictions there were.
I too have forgotten most. Shops were not allowed to open on a Sunday, the only ones that were allowed were little corner shops and they were restricted in what they could sell.
Public Houses were only allowed to open on a Sunday from Noon until 2.00pm and from 7.00pm until 10.00pm.
I went down to the seaside in the late sixties. there after a local by-law even Fish Shops were restricted to how many Sundays they were permitted to open. I think it was at Easter then from Spring Bank Holiday until some time in September. It was something like 16 Sundays in a year.
Mind you, it didn't just stop with shops. I can remember somebody telling me about Sunday cricket. This was in the early 60s. You could not start a Cricket Match before 2.00pm and you could not charge an entry fee. This was got around by charging for a programme. Mind you this was not compulsory. The Match had to be finished by 7.00pm.
Even today, there are restrictions. Supermarkets are not allowed to open before I think 10.00am and must close by 4.00pm on a Sunday . This stems from the Lords Observance Society. Going back to heaven alone knows.
Will the restrictions ever be lifted? Certainly not in my life time.
Tomorrow, I will talk about early days of the Television. More soon.

Radio explained?

To clarify as much as I can, I must try to explain just how the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) ran. It is what you would call Nationalised. Not that it is run on a political policy. It is, as far as it can be, run independently. I can honestly say, I have never noticed a particular way the programmes have swung to one or the other parties. Yes the Government does or did allocate money for the BBC to run. This included the World Service. We used to have a Radio Licence years ago and there was also a licence needed to have a radio in a car. That was done away with years ago and a T.V. licence incorporated the radio. Now every household that has a T.V must pay £145.50p each year. This has been frozen for 3 years. It does not matter if you only watch Sky, you still have to pay.
Back to the radio. Things would have progressed very slowly had it not been for the Pirate Radio Stations. Radio Caroline was the first. Well there were 2 One was based near the Isle of Man and the other off the coast of Essex. This was followed by Radio London, also known as Big L. Probably the best supported of all. Many other smaller Pirate Stations sprung up. This was in the early 1960s. With the Pirate Stations off shore beyond the 3 mile limit. That is what it was in those days. The Government could do nothing although they tried very hard to stop them.
Remember that the only music on records( that is what they were then) was Housewife's Choice on every weekday from 9.00am till 10.00am and Two Way Family Favourites. This was a forces based programme with the records being requested for Service Personnel in mainly Germany. I think it ran from 1.00pm to 2.00pm on a Sunday. That was it. So that when constant records were being played the BBC realised that something had to be done.
It was eventually decided that the new layout would be. Radio 1 would be on the medium wave. Radio 2 would use the light programme wavelength and Radio 3 would be on the Third Programme slot. It was also promised that there would also be local Radio Stations.
When Radio 1 went on air there was an immediate change of direction. Very little live music. If it was it would be a rock band or perhaps the Beatles would go to the studio and be interviewed and play a tune or so but in general it was all music on records. The same sort of thing happened on Radio 2. The only difference was that Radio 1 catered for the younger generation and Radio 2 catered for the more mature people. As with Radio 1, Radio 2 started to play lots and lots of records.
The upshot of this change was that a lot of DJs that worked on the Pirate Ships were offered jobs on Radio 1.
Local Radio seems to have it's audience but in general, I don't think they have been a great success. Some of them join other local stations at some parts of the day. I hardly ever listen to local radio at all.
At first all the stations were on analogue. now I think almost all are on VHF and of course the new digital, which unfortunately is still not available to all parts of the country.
Next time I will talk about the start of Television in the 1950s. More soon

No friend

Yesterday I rang my friend, he then told me his Mother was not well and he thought of having the Doctor to her. I immediately told him to get the Doctor to her the next day and not to even think of coming over to see me. He agreed so after I finish my blog, I will ring him up just to see how his Mother is. By the way, he is an official carer and she is on the highest amount of help she can get. So I will wait and see how things go.
This morning when I went out to feed the birds, I noticed the bird bath was covered in ice. Not a thin layer but quite a substantial amount. Thick enough for me to press the ice and It did not break at all.
Later I went out and thought I would go to the greenhouse and remove the cucumber. I think I have mentioned it before, but my sight is not 100% and as I took the cucumber plant up I noticed a fully formed cucumber on. Heaven alone knows how long it has been there but I picked it up and put it in my salad box in my fridge. The next thing I removed was my last marrow plant. Although I have had lots of marrows on they were early and so they finished early too.
My green recycling waste bin was emptied this morning so I am starting to refill it again. They come once a fortnight but from the end of November we do not have a green waste bin collection until the following April. This is fine for folks who live in the town but for us in the country, it is sad. What most of us do is have a few bonfires in the winter months. More soon.

Autumn time?

Here these last few days has been rather Autumn like. Mind you it is the middle of October. It does though seem to me that Autumn is a little earlier than the last couple of years.
Looking at my diary of last year, I can see that the fruits were earlier than normal years but it also meant that my runner beans, marrow and french beans have finished earlier than I had hoped. Even the grapes were a little earlier.
My tomatoes were not as prolific as in previous years and unfortunately some tomato plants had blight. This has meant I will be using sulphur candles, hopefully to kill any pest and diseases. I have started to clear the greenhouse and I notice that the odd pane of glass has started to slip. I went outside and inspected only to notice the clips that are fixed to hold the glass in place, well some have broken.
Luckily enough my Mate will be here this week so I will ask him to get some clips that are suitable for wooden greenhouses.
I have not forgotten about my gates either, hopefully he will adjust them also when he comes.
With me changing my ISP I only have free evening and weekends starting at 7.00pm each evening instead of 6.00pm. Incidentally these last few days my connection has been dreadfully slow. Good job I am not downloading films as this would be impossible. I doubt if I am getting 1 meg speed. Still I am connected so that is something I suppose.
Today I went for my State Pension and where I go I have taken a few bits and bobs of fruit and vegetables. To my surprise the guy who I know best came to see me and asked me what tipple I drink. I told him I do not drink as I am a diabetic. He was a little disappointed as he wished to give me something for the things I have taken them. I told him that if he wished he could get me a calendar. Not an expensive one but one with large numbers and easy to read as my eyesight is not as good as I would wish. So with a bit of luck, I will, for the first time be given something for giving fruit and vegetables. Not that I ever expect anything but it is very nice of him to even think of giving me something. More soon.

School Radio

I found this old Radio Times dated 1949. It bought back a memory that most will find it had to believe.

It was the day the late King George V1th. died.

How did we know this you might wonder. Well for the first time in my school life we were going to listen to the radio. I know this sounds corny but it was going to be a first. It was February 1952. It was a Music lesson and for the first time we were going to listen to some music on the radio. In those days there were some lessons on the radio just for schools.

Well the teacher turned on the radio and at first there was nothing at all, then came a solemn announcer saying. "The King is dead". In a very sombre voice then there were 4 low da da da da . This was then repeated, well it was repeated until the teacher turned off the radio. At mid morning break, we all went outside to tell the other schoolboys the news. Most didn't believe us, some stating that it was King George V.th that was dead. Eventually though everybody knew that this was true.

What most people don't realise is that there was no comedy programmes broadcast for several weeks and the music was a sombre selection.

Heaven alone knows what the youngsters would think of this today, most would never believe it.

This is the main reason I have decided to show a page from the Radio Times of 1949. Nothing much had changed in the few years since then and 1952. As one can see, there is only 3 radio stations. The Home Service, the Light Programme and the Third Programme. The nearest stations today would be Radio 2 for the Light Programme, Radio 4 for the Home Service and Radio 3 as the Third Programme.

One will also notice that the content of the programmes are limited. Very little music on records. Now of course CDs. Most music was of Bands in the studios and were live.

To be honest, there was very little of interest to the younger audience. Perhaps that is why a few years later Radio Luxembourg started. Mind you the reception was very very poor indeed. Still it did have popular music that was broadcast, I think every evening from 6.00pm until midnight. Nothing like today when you get music whenever you wish. How times have changed. To be honest, I think this is definitely for the better. I hope you find the bad photograph of the Radio Times informative. Pity my American friend is not on hand to show me how to take a photograph which would illustrate everything. Oh well!. More soon.

Things I think of.

I was looking out of my front door when I noticed a little bit of fly muck. Immediately it bought back to me times of my youth.
We had no electric but we did have gas. In the country lighting was by oil lamp. Incidentally, my best pal had oil lamp lighting.
Anyway during the summer, our home, as was every home, was infested with flies. I have always detested them. As there was no fly spray, the main thing to keep them down was to swat them with a bit of newspaper.
After the war the first thing that came about to kill flies was what was called Flypaper. It was in a tube. The nearest thing I can say to this would be an old film for a camera. You pulled the end of the tube and out came a piece of sticky paper about 18" long. This was not handled as it was very sticky. It was pinned up to the ceiling and after a couple of days had to be taken down because it would be full of dead flies.
By the way, I do everything in my power to stop flies from entering my home. When the odd fly does manage to find it's way into my house, I immediately go after the intruder and I am not satisfied until it is dispatched.
To stop flies from entering, my friend has made a fly screen and fitted it to my outside door in my sitting room. I can then have my door open so as to allow fresh air in without any flies.
Back to when I was young. Not having electricity, mind you there were very few fridges about anyway, all houses had a pantry, also there was what was known as a clod slab. Some were made of marble so it was really cold in relation to other shelves. Some had what you would call meat safes. This was a small safe with a gauze front therefore not allowing a fly to enter. Also in the pantry, there was a window. This was also covered by gauze, or some material like that.
Eggs were put on the cold slab as it was called. Milk in the summer was a problem. My Mother would get an enamel bucket of cold water and stick the milk in that to try to stop it from going sour. More often than not this would fail so often my Mother would ask one of us to finish the milk off as the milkman always called early every morning. Milk would always be on our doorstep before we go up. More soon.

More useless bits

I have always slept alone in a single bed, that is as far as I can remember. Beds in those days were flock filled. The best quality were of course feather filled. Hence feather bed, meaning nice and cosy. It was not until many many years later that spring interior mattresses were introduced.
My bed was a flock mattress, I guess about 3" thick which was over a metal strung base. It was comfortable as I knew nothing else. Beds were turned regularly both lengthways and sideways.
For many years I have never wore slippers. I do have a couple of pairs for emergencies such as Hospital.
I rarely wear pyjamas, it has to be very cold to wear them. I have several pairs at the ready for Hospital emergencies.
I have a holdall at the ready as I have been taken to Hospital several times. I prefer to wear in Hospital a top and shorts.
Something I did notice though when I was in Hospital. If someone is admitted and they have nothing the Hospital give out a pack. This consists of everything you would need, including a toothbrush and toothpaste. I couldn't believe it but it is true.
I have only used an electric razor since leaving the Army. Well over 50 years ago. In general use a Phylishave.
At the end of the War, buses started to run and I can remember several buses called Utility buses. These were in general local buses. In other words buses for local journeys only.
These Utility buses were basic. Seats were wooden. Not solid but thin slatted seats. I don't know if anybody can recall the park seats. But a lot of them were thin slats. I guess each slat would be a little wider than an inch. Although these were basic they were adequate and as my Father used to say. Third class riding is better than first class walking.
Finally the weather these last few days has been poor, dull and wet. More soon.

Paint Job?

Well my friend came on Friday and among other things he bought me some Hammerite paint. He also adjusted the gates so that they fit better. Then it was to getting me online with e-mail.
As always, things didn't go according to plan. He followed everything they told but no working mail.
I should think it would be an hour later that I told him I was once again going to phone their help line regarding internet. The delay was approaching 20 minutes but it was a free phone line.
The guy told my friend what to do and it was not possible to get what they wanted at their end a connection so he tried an alternative approach. This also didn't work. The poor guy on the other end was at a loss as to why things were not working. He even asked us to disengage my security which we did but made no difference at all. After over an hour the guy had run out of suggestions and apologised profusely. I told him to write down that he had failed to get my e-mail working.
My friend then had to go home as he has a Mother who is not well.
It was yesterday afternoon that I decided to try to send an e-mail to another of my web sites that I have e-mail. This was sent successfully. I then sent to my default e-mail a message which I received. I then decided to send my friend an e-mail giving him the latest news and hoped he received it.
This morning I went online and sure enough I had mail, so after all my e-mail is working.
Anyway on Saturday morning I decided to paint my gates. It was cold and windy. Much paint went on the block paving and quite a lot on my hands. As the paint got cooler it became more difficult to apply. My poor eyesight doesn't help either. I get so exasperated at the lack of decent vision. It doesn't help when it comes to painting gates. I tried my best and I think they will do.
What I intend doing is publishing photos of the gates, with a before and after look. This will not be for at least 10 days as my friend will not be here to finalise the adjustments to make them look as good as they possibly can. More soon.

Before I forget

I have just had e-mail for my American friend. I love getting mail from him as it is always interesting and if I ask any question it is fully answered .
It was something that he wrote telling me that he was bought up in a time of poverty and his parents went to buy clothes at thrift shops. I think over here we now have similar shops and they are called Charity shops.
Well almost all of the younger generation will have no idea but sugar was delivered to the shops in I think 1cwt, sack. 112lbs for those who are not familiar with the old weights in other words approx. 50kilos.
Well my Mother used to get a sack once it was emptied, boiled it up and then got transfer prints and print these patterns on the cloth and embroider the cloth. It was then used as a table cloth. Yes almost everybody used tablecloths in those days. More about tables soon.
My Mother also embroidered in the same way runners on the occasional table and also anti mocassas. Those things that used to cover the head of a covered chair or arms , they saved in general three piece suites from getting dirty as the covers could be easily washed.
Like my American friend, my Mother was great at knitting, in general she used to knit either jumpers or pullovers. Incidentally, I still have 2 jumpers that are in good condition.
Like most tables, they were scrubbed tables made I think of pine. They used to come up so nice when they were scrubbed, at least once a week. As I say, most had this sort of table.
Well my Cousin who lived on the same estate about 7 doors away so I used to go to see him very often. I am going back not to I guess 1045 when the war was more or less over. I would go and see if he could come out and play. We loved cricket. So much so that he made a bat out of a piece of willow tree and I used to go down to the fair and try to pick up any balls that were around. Not ordinary balls but the wooden balls that you were given when trying to win a coconut. Either at the shy a coconut booth or more than likely, get a ball in the bucket to win a coconut. They were ideal size for us as kids to play cricket. I made a pair of pads out of old rush matting so that if the wooden ball hit you, it didn't hurt.
I digress so back to the table. My Aunty had a table just like ours but to me it had patterns round the edges. Well one day I asked my Mother why couldn't we have a table that is patterned like hers. I was told and this is the honest truth. The patterns were caused by them smoking and leaving their cigarettes on the table and this was because they had forgotten them. I still find it hard to understand even to this day. It was true because on close inspection, I noticed that the burn marks were not even. Mind you every inch of space on the table had been used.
Finally, my friend called today, fixed the gates so that they fit better but most of all bought me some black Hammerite paint so it looks like painting tomorrow. More soon.

Wearing out

I must tell you this, my best pal called to see me yesterday. I was surprised as he had told me last time he called that it would be mid October before he came again.
Anyway he came down, told me that he had his hearing tested and had been to the hospital for a consultation and was advised that a hearing aid would help him.
Well we have discussed the subject on hearing, me with my sight and teeth too.
I then told him that this happened the day before. The phone rang and answered it. I honestly thought the voice on the other end said. " Registrars here can I have a few words?". I was somewhat taken aback. By the way it was a woman with a Scottish Accent. Well I told her that it would be alright and then said to her "Did you say Registrars Office?" The reply came back. "NO, British Gas." I broke into fits of laughter. I couldn't stop laughing for about a minute. When I recovered my composure, I suggested that she could have a laugh with the others in the office telling them who I thought was calling.
My pal laughed heartily with me and suggested that I also should get a hearing aid. I told him that I was at the surgery, clinic dentist and Hospital far too often already and didn't want anymore.
I then reminded him that my eyesight was poor. I have cataracts in both eyes and I am losing all of my calcium and now only have 4 of my own teeth left.
Talking of sight, I had my flu jab today. I thought I would get everything organised so went there about 5 minutes early so that when I booked in I would be in good time. I also bought my appointment card.
Everything went to plan until one of the assistants asked me who was giving me the injection. I told her and know her well. I couldn't see here anywhere, I asked one of the assistants where she was, she was bent over and when she stood up, I immediately saw it was her. I was surprised but said the right thing. "Chris you've dyed your hair, I didn't recognise you. It makes you look a lot younger". Of course she was thrilled to hear that from me. Is it my eyes? or is it that I am getting older. No comments please.
Just one thing about my younger days.
As I told you before I went to a Secondary School. From Whitsuntide, which fell 6 weeks after Easter, we had swimming lessons in an outdoor pool. Council owned and open to the general public. In general though we went in the morning so it was rare to see anybody else there. Please remember that Easter could fall in the middle of March and so Whitsun would be 6 weeks later. As it was half term a weeks holiday was taken so that swimming lessons could start in early May. The coldest water temperatures we saw was 56F. Your balls seemed to shrink and lift near to your mouth. It was dreadfully cold at times. I wonder if they would allow it these days.
The swimming lessons continued until the Summer Holidays. It was the same with Cricket. This also started after Whitsun until the holidays. I can understand why my Mother was not prepared to go without just to buy me white flannels so that I could play cricket. Mind you, she knew it was my favourite game, but that is how it was in those days. More soon.

A little more

When we were young the war was at it's worst. Street lights were not turned on. Naturally the lights were gas. They had a little pilot light so there was no need for a lamplighter to be used.
It didn't stop me from being a lamplighter when I worked on the Railway. Everyone had to take turns in working in the Time Office. all you was really was an errand boy, taking out tickets to the fitters and doing menial tasks like that. When it got dusk, you would be told to turn on the lights. About 5o% were of gas, the remainder were electric. A few switches turned on several lights but generally electric lights were single switches. To turn on the gas, we had a long pole with a hook. Not hard but if it was very windy, tricky.
I don't know if anybody has seen an old phone. The one with a mouthpiece in the centre of a board and an earpiece that is attached to a cord. Difficult to explain but we had several of those phones in the loco. This by these were used throughout the 1950s. Mind you almost all of us never had used a phone before except in a public phone booth.
Going back to street lighting. If one used a torch at night, it was just a pencil torch. I was frightened to go out in the dark as it was DARK. One has no idea how dark it can be on a moonless night. On more than one occasion people have got lost trying to find their way home.
I can't remember ever going out alone in the darkest of nights. To be honest, there was nothing to go out for. The A R Ps were I think in charge of making sure that there was not a chink of light showing from your home in the dark nights. If a chink of light was showing, there would be a bang on the door and inform you that a light was showing. It happened just once to my Mother. She immediately went to see where the light was coming from and rectified the problem. I think, but I am not certain that all homes were issued with black out curtains. It sounds dreadful now but it was the norm. We were bought up to this, as was never throwing away things that might have a use.
Almost all now know nothing of the measuring of feet. This was done to see if your feet were of sufficient size to qualify for extra clothing coupons.
This charade was done at school. I call it this because I have small feet. Now I have size 7 shoes, yes that is I think the smallest size, It used to be 6.
Well we were called out at school to have our feet measured. Not quite as you think but it was a mark from the skirting board. Each of us would stand with our heels touching the skirting board. I always hated this because I knew that I had no chance whatsoever of having feet large enough to qualify for extra clothing coupons.
By the way, I am small, when I was measured and weighed for the Army, I was measured at 5ft 7 1./2" tall and 112 lbs in weight. As one gets older one shrinks. I think I was 5ft 6" when I was measured for an operation. They use this for the amount of anaesthetic they administer.
Enough rubbish for now. More soon.

Just bits and bobs

I don't know what bought this to mind, well actually I do.
I was on the toilet today and I foolishly bought a special pack of a well known brand of toilet paper from ASDA. Yes, you have guessed it, the paper is so thin that ones' fingers just go through it.
Anyway I was looking and noticed that I had as old Izal paper toilet paper. It must be 20 years old but it is similar to a paper bag.
I immediately went back to my days at infant school. If one wanted to go to the toilet we had to ask for a piece of paper. there was no toilet rolls in any of the toilets as this was in the early days of the war.
The teacher would go to a cupboard and get a piece of paper, screw it up and roll it in a ball working on it to make it as soft as she could before handing it out to the child.
Would the youngsters believe this happened in the 20th. century?
Almost every home had a button tin. When clothes were discarded, naturally it was beyond repair, buttons were cut off and put in a tin.
My Grandfather would take clothes if he thought they were of any value. He would cut them up and make peg rugs. They were dreadful rugs, dirt traps as they seemed to attract every bit of dirt and kept it trapped in the rug. No hoovers in those days.
All of the woolens and pyjamas were used as either dust cloths or dish, or floor cloths. All woolen knitted clothes were pulled down and knitted up again. Mind you, the wool had lost it's pile and looked like a modern machine knitted acrylic jumper.
In our home we also had a tin for paper bags. I am sure that we would not be the only home that did this. It was a system that we all got used to. Nothing was ever thrown away unless it was completely beyond any use.
we also had a greased paper tin. Lard, marg and butter papers were saved. These were used for steamed puddings, spotted dick and other puddings that needed to be wrapped in greased proof paper.
String was saved, wrapping paper, especially brown paper wrapping. when the shoes were gone completely, the laces were taken out and saved. It is difficult to explain to anyone who has not been bought up to economise just how little was thrown away.
Next door had a few chickens which she had to give so many each week to the Ministry of Food. Well when she had an egg, the shells were put in the oven to dry and when cool they were broken into little pieces and given to the chickens as grit.
It is these funny things that I think of every now and again. Nothing is elaborated, all is true.
Tomorrow I will try to think of other things that come to mind. More soon.

Names

It was while I was thinking of one day at the kiosk that the names came to mind.
This man came in with a young child. He was carrying him as he had a broken leg. I guess the lad was only just have learned to walk as I guess he was a little over a year old. Well in passing I asked the man who was carrying him what his name was. He replied it was Mustapha. I immediately retorted. " Oh my god he will have his leg pulled a lot when he gets older." I had a woman who worked for me there at the time, she had to leave the kiosk because she couldn't control her laughter. She also had bad asthma and she told me later she felt ill because she was short of breath with laughter. The man who was carrying him also saw the funny side.
Talking of names took me back to my youth. We lived on a private housing estate. Now I guess it would be run by a Housing Association. Anyway my Father whenever he saw this man would call him Seppi. I plucked up courage one day to ask him how he got the name Seppi. He explained that his real name was Septimus. He was called that because he was the 7th child. He then told me something I had no idea of. My Aunty Ena as I knew her was christened Guyena, this was because she was born on Guy Fawkes day.
It was when I left school and worked on the Railway that I knew this man called Chris. He told me that his proper name was Christmas as he was born on Christmas Day. I didn't know whether to believe him but some other man told me this was true.
There were a few names that were unusual. One was called Austin, his brother was called Ruben, another was Earl and one was Isaac.
I think tomorrow I will talk once again of some odd things of my youth. More soon.